King's Leap

Dealer Alec Petty has carved out a niche on Henry Street, where category-defying art is being dreamed up for fans of all genres.

King’s Leap is named after a medieval chess move. One that changed the rules of the game. For those less familiar with the board, it’s a precursor to castling. The only time in chess that the King and Rook can reverse roles and move simultaneously. A dramatic move, and a mystical one.

Alec Petty saw the soul in this strategy, creating an experimental space where artists can change the rules of the game to something a little more lawless. A place where a rook becomes a king, so to speak.

He started the gallery in Bushwick in 2017, at 23. Back then, it was with a small pocket of artists exploring endless Tumblr scrolling. Experimenting with the aesthetic of that universe, one of anime and the infinitely repeating patterns of techno and trance music.

If you weren’t already convinced, just take a look at Petty. His piercing eyes do all the work. He brings you into the realm of science fiction-steeped, at times apocalyptic, art he is drawn to.

In this gallery, it’s often about the social dynamics between artist as a role player and the artist-dealer-collector relationship. Instead of focusing on technique or composition alone, paintings explore what it means to be an artist in a media-saturated world. A planet consumed by search, social media, and streaming.

The art at King’s Leap can be challenging to wrap your head around, and perhaps that is entirely the point. The art gets more interesting as it progresses. Much like chess. The smallest moves can have the biggest impact here. Every move an artist makes rewrites the outcome. The winners are those willing to play the game.